The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#514 - People in the Book

Lu Jing finished writing and put down his brush. After letting the ink dry slightly, he didn't place the book on the bookshelf but instead kept it on his person. After rereading it, he went downstairs and found Xuan Ji, saying to her, "Alright, take me to the secret room to find that thing."

"The library doesn't have a secret room," Xuan Ji replied, shaking her head.

"Oh, then where do you usually keep it?" Lu Jing asked curiously.

"Right here."

Xuan Ji paused and added, "Usually, it randomly picks a book from the library and disguises itself as that book. When opened, it's indistinguishable from the original, except it can't be taken outside. You might have even touched or read it before."

Lu Jing was taken aback. "So, there aren't just ten thousand books in the library now, but ten thousand and one." He thought for a moment, feeling that finding two identical books out of ten thousand didn't seem too difficult.

However, Xuan Ji quickly shattered his daydream. She seemed to see what Lu Jing was thinking and continued, "It's not that simple. Once [Gui Zi Sixty-Six] realizes someone is looking for it, it can quickly change its appearance again."

"So, unless we can remember the location of every book, if we check them one by one and then go back to find the first book when we find two that are the same, we most likely won't be able to find it again," Lu Jing said, feeling a headache coming on.

"That's right," Xuan Ji nodded.

This wasn't some 'brainiest' competition. Lu Jing doubted he could memorize the location of ten thousand books. Just as he began to suspect that this time he might be off to a bad start, he heard Yan Jun say, "Let me try."

Then, starting with the first bookshelf on her left, she took out the books one by one.

Yan Jun didn't look quickly. Although she was only looking at the titles, she held each book in her hand for a moment before returning it. Thus, she spent about half an incense stick's worth of time in front of each bookshelf.

However, her steps never stopped, maintaining an almost identical pace, moving forward little by little.

The remaining four didn't dare to disturb her, waiting quietly for the final result.

An hour later, Yan Jun had looked at nearly a third of the books.

But judging by her appearance, she hadn't found two completely identical books on the bookshelves yet.

On the other side, Lu Jing didn't forget to sharpen his axe before chopping wood, taking advantage of this time to quietly practice his sword control technique.

He refined the newly acquired flying sword, Mountain Fire.

He was quite familiar with this kind of thing now. First, he placed Mountain Fire against his forehead, separated a portion of his secret force and sent it into the sword, circulating it once. Then, he divided it in two, leaving one part in the flying sword, while the remaining part returned to the Niwan Palace.

After several such cycles, a sword shadow condensed in the Niwan Palace.

This was the sword spirit of Mountain Fire.

With a sword spirit, Lu Jing could use his secret force to nurture the sword.

Of course, like the initial state of Lake Light, Mountain Fire could only absorb a limited amount of secret force at a time. Fortunately, this situation would improve as cultivation deepened.

It was just a question of whether it could keep up with the growth rate of Lu Jing's cultivation.

Lu Jing fed Mountain Fire, then fed Lake Light, and then carefully observed the reactions of the two. According to Chi, when there were many flying swords, they would fight and affect each other, just like women.

Especially flying swords with incompatible tempers, which were like fire and water.

But as far as he could see, Lu Jing couldn't detect any discord between the two swords in his upper Dantian. Whether it was Mountain Fire or Lake Light, their emotions seemed very stable at the moment.

Could it be because they happened to be the same type of sword, and they got along well?

Lu Jing didn't immediately draw a conclusion but decided to observe them further.

Just then, Yan Jun finally stopped. In her hand, she held a scroll titled 'The Tale of Stolen Fragrance'.

Yan Jun thought for a moment, then walked back to the third bookshelf, from which she pulled out a copy of 'Peach Blossom Fate'.

Yan Jun returned 'The Tale of Stolen Fragrance' to the bookshelf, then, holding the book 'Peach Blossom Fate', she was about to walk towards the other four.

But the next moment, a man dressed in a black uniform, like a government runner, suddenly jumped out from behind a bookshelf next to her, waving a menacing club and striking at Yan Jun.

As a result, Yan Jun simply stretched out a hand, grabbed the menacing club, and with a flick of her wrist, the black-clad runner staggered back seven or eight steps.

He wanted to rush up again, but the blood and Qi in his chest were surging, preventing him from moving.

Lu Jing couldn't help but rejoice at the sight. The appearance of the black-clad runner proved that the book Yan Jun was holding was indeed the [Gui Zi Sixty-Six] he was looking for.

Moreover, as it currently appeared, his plan with Xuan Ji had worked.

Because those left behind were all normal, the characters that [Gui Zi Sixty-Six] materialized were all ordinary roles.

Although the black-clad runner was burly with a face full of rough flesh, and didn't look like someone to be trifled with, that was only for ordinary civilians. If he faced a martial artist, he wouldn't have any advantage.

Not to mention facing top experts like Yan Jun and Lu Jing.

Seeing that the main character had appeared, Lu Jing didn't hesitate. He immediately took out the prepared brazier, lit it, and when Yan Jun handed over the book 'Peach Blossom Fate', Lu Jing placed it directly on the fire.

Lu Jing didn't intend to really burn it. After all, he was still counting on [Gui Zi Sixty-Six] to materialize what he wanted, so this action was just a pretense.

But [Gui Zi Sixty-Six] obviously didn't know this. When Lu Jing moved it towards the fire, another book on the bookshelf not far away automatically opened. This time, a butcher with his chest exposed and a sharp knife in his hand jumped out.

Seeing his burly figure, his bell-like eyes, and his thick beard, one knew he was a Zhang Fei-like figure. He roared at Lu Jing and rushed over with his knife.

As a result, his fate was similar to that of the previous black-clad runner. Lu Jing didn't even make a move; Wen Xiaochun simply used a flying sleeve to send the man back to his original place, and then he spun like a top.